High Court: Technology and Construction Court judgments, 2026

A later claimant’s independent cause of action under the Defective Premises Act 1972 is not barred merely because a closely connected company’s claim for the…

The date of a Part 36 offer is not one of its terms. Rule 36.16(2) imposes a default prohibition on telling the trial judge the fact or terms of an offer…

A terminal dilapidations claim is assessed first by the common-law cost of work needed to restore the covenanted condition, subject to mitigation and…

Subject to jurisdiction and natural justice, the court takes a robust approach to enforcing an adjudicator’s decision. A decision remains binding if the…

An application for pre-action disclosure cannot be served out of the jurisdiction against a foreign respondent for documents located abroad unless the…

Under section 105(4) of the Procurement Act 2023, a contract award notice which does not provide accurate information is treated as unpublished for set-aside…

On an application for summary judgment, the implication of contractual duties of good faith must be addressed by orthodox principles of contractual…

In a public procurement, transparency requires tender criteria to be sufficiently clear for a reasonably well-informed and normally diligent tenderer to…

Adjudication decisions should be enforced summarily. A court will refuse enforcement only where it is plain that the adjudicator decided a question outside the…

An implied tender contract is not automatic and its terms depend on the documents and circumstances. Issuing an invitation to tender may create a limited…

Where related proceedings in the Technology and Construction Court and the First-tier Tribunal raise common facts or issues, they may be jointly managed and…

A subcontractor cannot enforce a project-bank-account payment clause under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 merely because it is a supplier or…

For an urgent application supporting arbitration, the court may grant short-term relief under the Arbitration Act 1996 where the tribunal or emergency…

On an application for summary judgment, the court must decide whether the claim has a realistic prospect of success and whether there is any other compelling…

A contractual reference to developing an API can impose an obligation to make it available where the agreement, read as a whole, treats it as replacing a…

An application for payment must satisfy statutory requirements and any more demanding contractual requirements. A self-billing arrangement does not remove the…

In a procurement challenge, early specific disclosure is subject to a low but real threshold. The court should examine the pleaded case for relevance…

Courts adopt a robust approach to enforcing adjudicators’ decisions by summary judgment. An adjudicator may find that neither party has proved its asserted…

An insurer is liable only for insured damage occurring during the policy period and caused by the insured peril as defined by the policy. Earlier movement or…

On an application to lift an automatic suspension in a procurement challenge, mere arguability that damages may be inadequate is insufficient. The claimant…

Under section 44(3) of the Arbitration Act 1996, urgency is a jurisdictional requirement, and an order must be necessary to preserve evidence or assets. A…

Under a contractual final-account conclusivity regime, the relevant statement must first be identified objectively, by reference to the document’s wording…

A construction contract must provide a fixed period between the due date and the final date for payment. The due date may depend on an event, but the final…

On an assessment of damages following default judgment, the claimant must prove the loss by evidence. The assessment proceeds on the basis of the liability…

Construction pleadings must state enough facts for the defendant to understand and answer the case, and to prepare for trial. The required detail depends on…

A principal may require a former agent to provide access to business documents stored on a personal device, subject to a proportionate process protecting…

An adjudicator’s decision will generally be enforced where the adjudicator has addressed the dispute referred, even if the decision is alleged to be legally or…

A statement of case must identify the facts, duties, breaches, causation and loss relied on against each defendant. General allegations of statutory…

In adjudication enforcement proceedings, a court may refuse enforcement where the adjudicator decides a material issue on a factual or legal basis that neither…

A post-Grenfell commercial lease requiring a landlord to keep a tall hotel building in good condition may require the removal and replacement of inherently…

Where a pre-construction agreement precedes a later building contract, wording that contractual rights and liabilities are “subsumed into and subject to” the…

Under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, contribution requires the parties to be liable for the same damage. A company is not jointly vicariously…

Service of a claim form on a defendant’s solicitors requires clear written notification that the solicitors are instructed to accept service. General conduct…

Indemnity costs require conduct which takes the case out of the norm. The touchstone is unreasonableness to a high degree, rather than mere error or misguided…

A lease may be frustrated only where a supervening event, without default by either party, makes performance radically different from the bargain originally…

A claim alleging contractual breach or negligence must identify the relevant defect, breach or negligent act, and explain how it caused the loss. Alternative…

On a multi-issue interlocutory application, costs should reflect the parties’ overall success and the conduct that made the application necessary. A party may…

Permission to appeal was refused. A challenge to the exercise of the broad discretion to make a building liability order must identify an error of law…

Part 8 proceedings are unsuitable where the validity and interpretation of contractual payment notices depend materially on disputed or incomplete factual…

Applications to lift the automatic suspension under section 102(2) of the Procurement Act 2023 require a single factual assessment balancing the public…

Contractual interpretation is a unitary exercise directed to the agreement as a whole. The court should, where possible, give effect to every contractual…

In a procurement challenge under the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016, the court’s role is supervisory. It must identify a clear and material error…

A binding contract may arise during negotiations marked or begun subject to contract if the parties later expressly or impliedly waive that condition. The…

On an application to lift the automatic suspension of contract-making in a procurement challenge, the court should ordinarily begin by asking whether damages…

Costs normally follow the event, but the court may depart from that order where the successful party’s conduct makes departure just. A refusal to mediate is…

The High Court may make a building liability order before the original company’s relevant liability has been finally established. The order is available where…

Where both parties have addressed the court on interest, the court may depart from an adjudicator’s approach and determine the correct contractual basis…

On an application for summary judgment, a strong claim will fail where the defendant has a realistically arguable case requiring factual investigation. A…

In adjudication-enforcement proceedings, the court may consider related Part 8 proceedings only where the issue is short and self-contained, requires no…

A professional adviser providing information for a lending decision is responsible for losses representing the fruition of the risks against which the advice…

On an application for summary judgment, the court must decide whether the opposing case has a realistic prospect of success, while avoiding a mini-trial. It…

Summary judgment may be granted on a short point of law or construction where the court has the necessary evidence and no realistic prospect exists that a…

Striking out for litigation misconduct is a protective and exceptional remedy. Under Summers v Fairclough Homes Ltd [2012] UKSC 26, the court must ask whether…

On an application to adjourn a trial, the governing question is whether proceeding would be fair in all the circumstances. The assessment is fact-sensitive and…

Where negotiations begin subject to contract, that condition ordinarily continues throughout the negotiations. It is removed only by express agreement or by an…

On an application made before the service period expires, the court has discretion under CPR r 7.6 to extend time for serving a claim form. Inability to serve…

Where a subcontract is made with joint-venture entities, the constituent companies are not separate contractual “Parties” merely because they sign the deed or…

Costs budgeting is concerned with approving phase totals falling within the range of reasonable and proportionate costs. It is not a detailed assessment…

Costs payable by an unsuccessful tenderer in procurement proceedings remain discretionary. An interested party does not obtain costs merely because it won the…

An intervener directly affected by an injunction application may obtain its reasonable costs where it is properly joined and materially assists the court. The…

An interim injunction restraining payment under an on-demand performance bond will ordinarily be granted against the issuing bank only where fraud is alleged…

Where a defendant does not attend trial, the claimant must ordinarily prove its case. The court may strike out the defence, but the absence of adversarial…

Summary enforcement of an adjudicator’s decision is inappropriate where there is a real prospect that the contract relied upon to found the adjudicator’s…

An assignee of the benefit of a construction contract may refer an assigned claim to adjudication where the contract permits assignment and contains no express…

In a split trial, the court may make an immediate costs order for a liability stage even though substantial damages remain undecided, particularly where the…

On an application to lift an automatic suspension in a public procurement, the court should apply the American Cyanamid test. The dissatisfied tenderer bears…

A non-party costs order under Senior Courts Act 1981, section 51, is exceptional only in the sense that it falls outside the ordinary run of litigation. The…

On an application to lift an automatic suspension in a procurement challenge, the court should not conduct a mini-trial where a serious issue to be tried is…